Each image is part of a limited edition, is signed & numbered and includes a certificate of authenticity. All images are printed with archival inks on premium fine art paper affixed to a rigid & durable backing.

I especially love working with bird and animal images and am particularly fascinated with the birdcage motif (I use it a lot!). The tutorial today features an image that includes the birdcage and hawks and is called The Rescue.

Here is the image in its entirety.

This image began with a blank canvas of 14 x 11 inches to which I added one of my favorite art papers that I textured slightly with an oil paint filter. I kept it at a a normal blend mode and 100% opacity. On top of that I layered in a cityscape that I found on Creative Commons setting it to soft light at 55% opacity and overlapping it at the bottom edge of the canvas.

Next came a beautiful peach-colored cloud layer that I blended in multiply mode retaining 100% opacity.

This is how it looked at this stage.

For the next portion of this piece (which was very time-consuming and sometimes tedious, I must admit) I had to construct a cluster of the bird cage, the hawk inside the cage, the branch, and the small bird perched on the branch. For this I opened a new 12 x 12 transparent document and added the cage first with the hawk on top. After selecting all of the cage I painted out parts of the hawk so that he appeared to be inside of the cage. I linked these two elements so that I could move them around as one piece. Next came the branch on top of which I placed the small bird and linked these two elements. I then placed the hawk & birdcage with the hook onto the branch and masked out part of the hook so that is looked to be hanging from the branch. Finally I made a group of all of these elements and moved it to the main canvas.

After the addition of this cluster I added an osprey, a hawk, and an eagle-the osprey set to soft light at 100% opacity and the hawk and eagle set to normal and 100%. Some flying birds dot the upper canvas set to darken mode (because they were on a white background) and 40% opacity.

At last we reach the end with the layering of a textured paper set to multiply at a 45% opacity.

Tip: Before I introduce a new piece today I want to say a word to photographers who are interested in taking their work into the realm of the photo artist; a place of creativity, individuality, and sometimes if we’re lucky, a little magic.

The very first order of business is to become a collector- of papers, textures, elements; anything that might bring life to your piece. I literally have hundreds of papers, textures and things as well as my photos. Many textures & backgrounds can be gotten free by googling ‘free photo backgrounds.’ Free images can be found at https://creativecommons.org. When I’m looking for something new I purchase papers & kits, and one of my favorite places is https://e-scapeandscrap.net/boutique. You’ll find many sales and occasional free items, and this is a great site for scrapbookers.

Once you’ve collected images and elements the next order of business is to organize them into folders. I have folders for Papers & Textures, which I have sub-divided into categories of Colors, Edges-Frames-Overlays, Splotches, Scribbles, Scratched Surfaces, Brushes & Text, Clouds-Moon-Stars just to name a few as well as folders called Critters, Botanicals, Patterns-Graphics-Icons, and Victorian-Steampunk.

‘The Sound of Silence’ is the title of the piece I’ll be working with today, and we’ll start with the finished image and work backward.

The image begins with a gray speckled paper, which I duplicated twice putting an impressionist painting filter on one layer and an ink-watercolor filter on the other. Blend modes and opacities are shown on each.

Once the base layer is in place I add a very nice grungy gray/blue background and a sunspot.

A photo I took on the Okefenokee swamp is cropped, reversed horizontally, duplicated, and blended in luminosity mode at a 50% opacity. The duplicate is given a sketchy watercolor filter, blended in soft light mode with a 75% opacity.

Next come the flying geese and the text.

The text was blended in hard light mode at 40% opacity.

The final touches include the addition of a gorgeous blue/brown background and a starry background.

Finally the panel layer from Photoshop. The layers were not originally placed as they are here, but this is the final stacking before the image is flattened.